She swims against pain to stay fit and fine

"She is someone who gets things done, however impossible it seems,” remarked iconic basketball coach Michael Rosenkrantz, during a wheelchair basketball training session that Madhavi Latha had organised at Chennai some years ago. This awesome attitude defines Madhavi Latha.

Picture this -- Year 2007, Chennai. 37-year-old Madhavi Latha, a successful banker, was handed a diagnosis of a compressed spine that pushed against her lungs, covering it. She had just some months to live if she didn’t undergo complicated spine surgery.

Polio hit Madhavi when she was a child, causing 80% disability. Unable to commute to college, she taught herself college math. Then she got her MBA (Banking & Finance) and earned top-notch certifications from the Indian Institute of Bankers, IFS, UK, besides a certification as an anti-money laundering specialist from ACAMS, USA. She built a successful career as a banker and drove around the city in her hand-operated Maruti Zen.

That’s when the blow was dealt with. Muscle weakness and piercing back pain made her unable to sit up in her wheelchair. Driving to the office became difficult. Being immobile weakened Madhavi’s spine further. The risky spine surgery could help her, else progressive muscle wastage and breakdown of bodily functions, including the kidneys and the lungs was a certainty, she was told.

In the catch-22 situation, someone in Madhavi’s office recommended physiotherapy. Her physiotherapist prescribed using a spinal brace, with which Madhavi could sit up for short spells.

Her physiotherapist also recommended hydrotherapy — and the rest is history. When she entered the pool, the pain was replaced by joy, with the water bearing her weight and giving her spine some relief. She learnt freestyle swimming on her own in the baby pool in five months. A coach noticed her attitude and progress and taught her other strokes.

Once resigned to the wheelchair or lying down, now, in water, Madhavi was finally able to exercise, which boosted her health and fitness. An inspired Madhavi founded ‘Yes, We Too Can’ to promote swimming among people with disabilities and the elderly, for them to discover the joy of sports and stay socially connected by meeting at sports events and the pool.

Today, Madhavi is a national level award-winning para swimmer (11 gold and silver medals), a wheelchair basketball player and President for the Wheelchair Basketball Federation of India, besides being an associate Vice President with a major MNC bank group.

Madhavi is now exploring dance for people with disabilities, along with a few like-minded individuals and dance experts. She had one attitude that made all these possible – Yes I can!